KSL-TV in Salt Lake City is tracking the story of at least 84
Utah
police officers who are sick, dying or dead -- the common link is they
all were involved in meth-lab investigations. About a third of the
officers have -- or had -- some form of cancer. Fifty-five of the cases
involve workers'-compensation claims, which might be a good place to
start looking for these kinds of cases in your county or state.
Some officers say they did not have the proper protective gear when they were called in to bust the meth labs.
Last year,
when KSL first began its investigation, the state's OSHA
department began investigating why officers were not better protected:
The Illinois Attorney General's office documented cases in four states where officers were endangered by meth investigations.
- Summit, Ill. -- February 2003. Police
officers in this Chicago suburb (just west of Midway Airport) responded
to reports of an apparent explosion, encountered an injured man in the
lobby of an apartment building, followed a trail of his blood to a
third-floor apartment, and entered the apartment where a meth lab had
apparently exploded. Nine police officers were overcome by fumes, taken
to local hospitals, and later released.
- Colorado Springs, Colo.
-- January 2004. Police officers entered a structure containing a
suspected meth lab, were overcome by fumes, and were sent to a local
hospital. Media reports say the officers were overcome by phosphine
gas, a potentially fatal substance sometimes produced by malfunctioning
labs that use the red phosphorous method of meth production.
- Sapulpa, Okla.
-- December 2003. Three police officers investigating a reported drug
overdose encountered meth-making materials and were overcome by fumes
and sent to an area hospital.
- Hobe Sound, Fla. -- December 2003. Police officers investigating a suspected meth lab in a mini-storage unit were overcome by fumes.
Back in 2004, Minnesota Public Radio looked at how meth investigations endanger cops.
The Termites-in-the-Mulch Rumor
It is the season when
gardeners start spreading mulch and planting green stuff. But there is
a hot Internet rumor flying around that hurricane-damaged trees loaded
with termites are waiting for you in your garden mulch.
The (Austin, Texas) American-Statesman says Louisiana officials are denying the rumor:
Louisiana agriculture
chief Bob Odom says there isn't any unsafe mulch leaving his state --
at least none that he knows of -- because of a quarantine that makes it
illegal to sell untreated mulch and wood from areas infested with the
Formosan Subterranean Termite.
The Detroit Free Press says big chains buy their mulch carefully:
Home Depot and Lowe's said this week that they do not buy mulch from New Orleans or any hurricane areas and sell only mulch certified by the Mulch and Soil Council, which sets industry standards for inspection. (See list of certified products.)
The best advice from experts seems to involve checking the mulch
to see if you see any creepy-crawlers in it before you spread it around
your home.
Best of TV Photojournalism Videos on Poynter Online
I hope you will take some time to look at some extraordinary work now posted on Poynter Online. It's a compilation of the winners of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA)
Best of Television Photojournalism contest that is being judged here at
Poynter this week. There are two main sections, which include awards
for photojournalists and for video editors. Winners this year include
amazing and heroic photojournalism covering the war in Iraq, a documentary on children working in the underground mines of Bolivia, heart-wrenching features and skilled editing that sets the bar high for storytellers.
This is GREAT
teaching material and brown-bag-lunch fodder for newsrooms and
classrooms. In addition to the winning videos, we have included
comments from the judges, as well as some ethical tussles the panels
have gone through while watching the stories.
Friday, around midday,
Poynter Online will stream video of the NPPA judges calling the winners
of the Photographer of the Year, Editor of the Year and Stations of the
Year awards.
Sealed Court Orders: Sunshine Week Project
Al's Morning Meeting reader David Boardman, managing editor of The Seattle Times, sent me a project his paper recently published, which is also a great topic for Sunshine Week next week.
While you are covering stories about the need for open records and open
meetings, consider this story about how judges routinely seal cases
that have to do with public safety. The Seattle Times reported:
Document after
document, file after file, has been sealed -- and sealed improperly --
by the judges and court commissioners of King County Superior Court. A
wrongful-death lawsuit against Virginia Mason Medical Center? Sealed. A lawsuit accusing a King County
judge of legal malpractice? Sealed. A lawsuit blaming the state's
social-services agency for the rape of a 13-year-old girl? Sealed.
Since 1990, at least 420 civil suits have been sealed in their entirety (PDF), The Seattle Times
found. That means everything -- from the complaint, which says who's
accused of what, to the judgment, which says how the case wound up --
has been concealed, locked behind electronic passwords or number-coded
keypads that restrict access to computer records and shelved files.
These sealed records
hold secrets of potential dangers in our medicine cabinets and
refrigerators; of molesters in our day-care centers, schools and
churches; of unethical lawyers, negligent doctors, dangerous dentists;
of missteps by local and state agencies; of misconduct by publicly
traded companies into which people sink their savings.
The Washington Constitution says: "Justice in all cases shall be administered openly." To this, many King County judges have effectively added: "unless the parties don't want it to be."
The judges have
displayed an ignorance of, or indifference to, the legal requirements
for sealing court records. They have routinely sealed files while 1)
offering little or no explanation, 2) applying the wrong legal
standard, and 3) failing to acknowledge, much less weigh, the public
interest in open court proceedings.
At least 97 percent of their sealing orders disregard rules set down by the Washington Supreme Court in the 1980s.
The state's highest
court says court records should be sealed only in rare circumstances.
Its message is: Your taxes pay for the courts. You're entitled to know
what goes on there. You elect the judges. You need to know how they do
their job. The public cannot evaluate its court system -- nor hold
judges accountable -- if the courthouse curtains are drawn.
Judges and
commissioners have sealed at least 46 cases where a public institution
is a party. Is some public agency slipping up? Some public employee?
Are taxpayer dollars at risk? Good questions all, but you can't have
the answers. Local school districts, the University of Washington, the state Department of Social and Health Services -- all have had files sealed.
Judges and
commissioners have sealed at least 58 cases where a fellow lawyer is a
party, usually as a defendant. Leading firms, prominent lawyers, judges
-- all have had files about them sealed.
The courts have
sealed cases where the person being sued was a licensed professional --
for example, a doctor, psychologist or counselor -- who was
subsequently disciplined by the state. Those lawsuits might have served
as a warning, had they not been concealed from the public.
And the courts have
sealed one case after another at the request of the rich and
influential, including leaders in real estate, advertising, banking,
medicine, software development, the Internet, general business and
sports.
You can see Sunshine Week editorial cartoons, listen to podcasts, download printable ads, get story ideas and more by clicking here.
You can learn more about how to use open records by trying this NewsU course, "Freedom of Information: Your Right to Know." It is free and online.
The Changing Face of Seniors
Senior citizens in America are getting wealthier, healthier and better-educated, according to a new survey from the National Institutes of Health. The percentage of seniors with disabilities is declining.
Florida (17.6 percent), Pennsylvania (15.6 percent) and West Virginia
(15.3 percent) are the "oldest" states, with the highest percentages of
people aged 65 and older. Charlotte County, Fla. (34.7 percent), gets
top honors among counties, and McIntosh County, N.D. (34.2 percent), ranks second. In 2000, nine states had more than 1 million people aged 65 and older: California, Florida, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey.
The study says that in just seven years, we can expect the beginning of a "major wave" of retirements, as baby boomers turn 65.
The Old and the Oldest Old
The NIH study contains some interesting projections (PDF)
about not only how many of us will be old folks within the next 20
years, but it also points to what it calls a huge group of "oldest old"
people, which is growing.
The older population
is on the threshold of a boom. According to U.S. Census Bureau
projections, a substantial increase in the number of older people will
occur during the 2010 to 2030 period, after the first Baby Boomers turn
65 in 2011. The older population in 2030 is projected to be twice as
large as in 2000, growing from 35 million to 72 million and
representing nearly 20 percent of the total U.S. population at the latter date.
The study adds:
In 2000, the
oldest-old population (those 85 and older) was 34 times as large as in
1900, compared with the population aged 65 to 84 that was only 10 times
as large. The oldest-old population is projected to grow rapidly after
2030, when the Baby Boomers begin to move into this age group. The
number of centenarians (those 100 and older) has increased in the past
several years, from about 37,000 in 1990 to over 50,000 in 2000. About
80 percent of centenarians are women.
Interestingly, the United States is not alone in this phenomenon. China and India are also facing an explosion of senior-citizen populations. (See the chart on Page 30 of this PDF.)
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of
ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web
sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information
comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link
will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but
depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited.
Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
